John H. D'Arms, the Gerald F. Else Professor of Humanities and
professor of classical studies and of history, will serve as
president of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS).

The Regents have granted him a two-year leave, Sept. 1, 1997-Aug.
31, 1999, for this service.

"The ACLS is the preeminent private humanities organization in the
United States," says Edie N. Goldenberg, dean of LS&A. "A
non-profit organization founded in 1919, it is a federation of 58
national learned societies in the humanities and social sciences.

"The purpose of the Council is `the advancement of humanistic
studies in all fields of learning in the humanities and social
sciences and the maintenance and strengthening of relations among
national societies devoted to such studies.'

"Prof. D'Arms' distinguished career in classical scholarship and
leadership of our own Rackham School of Graduate Studies have well
prepared him for this position and in taking it he will both make a
contribution to the current situation of the humanities and social
sciences in America and bring positive recognition to the U-M."

President Lee C. Bollinger says, "In selecting John D'Arms to
serve as president of the ACLS, this prestigious organization taps
the expertise of one of Michigan's most distinguished faculty members
and respected leaders. As a friend of John's for many years, I am
delighted to join his colleagues in Ann Arbor and around the country
in congratulating him on this high honor. We all wish him the best as
he uses this opportunity to continue his exceptional work on behalf
of the humanities and the social sciences."

Sheldon Hackney, chairman of the National Endowment for the
Humanities, says, "John D'Arms is one of those wise figures to whom
we all turn instinctively for advice. His broad experience in the
world of scholarship and teaching, and in the institutional settings
that make scholarship and teaching possible, have prepared him well
for the national leadership that we have come to expect from the
president of the ACLS. I am absolutely delighted by the appointment."

A faculty member since 1965, D'Arms served as chair of the
Department of Classical Studies for nine years, and was named the
Gerald F. Else Professor in 1983. He received Michigan's
Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 1982 and was also named
professor of history in 1986.

D'Arms was appointed as dean of the graduate school in 1985 and he
also served as vice provost for academic affairs in 1990-95.

In 1977-80, he was director of the American Academy in Rome and
the A.W. Mellon Professor in its School of Classical Studies.

D'Arms has been a spokesman for the humanities at a national
level, as a former member of the Board of Directors of the ACLS,
trustee of the National Humanities Center, trustee emeritus of the
American Academy in Rome, and member of the national Committee for
Mellon Fellowships in the Humanities. President Clinton appointed
D'Arms to the National Council for the Humanities in 1994.

D'Arms received his Ph.D. in classical philology from Harvard
University in 1959.